A few weeks back I stumbled across Alpin Drums, a percussion/performance group.
When I booked the ticket I realized one of them was the percussionist from The Stimulators, a favourite band of mine.
So expectations where very high but easily matched by the guys on stage.
They where using everything from milk cans
to rubber toys and plastic tubing
and even swimming noodles
The whole set is here.
cheers
afx

Went to the Little Octoberfest today.
Basically a delayed 4th of July party an American business relations organization runs on the weekend after the 4th. at Waldwirtschaft (a well known restaurant/beer-garden in the south of Munich).
Found an interesting character there, using a Schneutztuch (quaint Bavarian/German word for handkerchief that fits the subject):
cheers
afx

The older I get, the less interest I have spending time at my homeoffice desk (even though it has a nice 30" NEC screen).
I prefer the sofa now ;-)
So I have been searching for quite a while to find something usable.
It was a lot less easy than expected.
Requirements:
at least 100% sRGB, preferably 100% Adobe RGB.
a decent keyboard
2Kg max weight
Quad i7, at least 16GB RAM
15" Screen preferably not 16:9
A Unix OS
Well, as usual not all parameters could be matched ;-(
Imaging software on Linux still sucks, so MacOS would be the obvious choice to get a Unix system.
But Apple nowadays is only into overpriced lifestyle products, not pro products.
Connectivity is hampered by the need of having to bring adapters like a packrat
And their keyboards used to suck (I have been using them since 2002),
but now they ship even worse rubbish (see the class action suit).
So no Macbook Pro.
Windows 10 now has a Linux subsystem (WSL), this helps though it is just a subsystem, not an integral part of the OS like on MacOS (funny enough, loads of developers are switching from Macs to Windows because of WSL).
A 15" surface book 2 would be cool (and it has a nice aspect ratio),
but the keyboard is rubbish and it only has sRGB.
And the port selection is not brilliant either.
Dell and HP also have rubbish keyboards...
There is a Lenovo Yoga 720 with a 15" screen, but it seems to have quality problems,
the gamut is not that exiting either and the keyboard is not Thinkpad class.
So back to my old staple, Thinkpads. The only brand with really good laptop keyboards.
Good reliability (I have 30y experience with Thinkpads)
Unfortunately, most Thinkpads have gamuts significantly below 100% sRGB.
The big workhorse would be a P52, nearly 100% Adobe RGB.
But that thing weighs over 2Kg and has a brick of a power supply.
At the beginning of the year Lenovo announced the 3rd gen X1 Yoga with an 8gen quad i7 (and a similar X1 Carbon).
The CES reports mentioned full Adobe RGB (with the HDR panel), unfortunately only 14" in 16:9.
And a very bright screen (most laptops have 300nits, this has 500).
The price difference between the Carbon and the Yoga is is minimal, but the Yoga comes with a touch screen and a pen.
Got the Yoga with HDR screen for the student price (30% off) in April.
It comes with on site replacement warranty for 3 years and I ordered the clumsy extension,
as well as a second power supply, so I have one on each floor.
So far I am quite happy with it.
Using it with Capture One and Affinity Photo.
So here are the good, the bad and the ugly:
The keyboard is a typical Thinkpad keyboard. Anything better would be a big fat IBM type M.
It works as it should (and sinks into the body when flipping the screen over).
Have not tested it's claimed splash resistance yet.
It is quite light (less than 1.5Kg).
It is easily fast enough for my D750 files (faster than my old hex i7 desktop).
If there are no reflections, the screen is gorgeous.
And bright if needed, but it can still go low enough in the evenings.
Of course, using it as touch screen leaves marks... Needs cleaning often.
I measured 98% Adobe RGB, and it shows. Absolutely great for image viewing.
16:9 sucks. Why Lenovo standardized on this is beyond me, video watching is not the prime use for these machines.
I wish it where 15", but 14" works.
I rarely us the touch screen and only occasionally the pen.
I would have thought I use the pen more often,
but apart from some masking I prefer the TrackPoint for mouse placement.
The touchpad is only used for scroll/zoom, not mouse buttons,
that would lead to way too many faulty mouse button events for me.
I stick with the three physical buttons (and yes, the middle button is in constant use...)
I rarely use it in tent or tablet mode. They are good for viewing only (typically images, Kindle or Netflix).
I need the keyboard shortcuts for Capture One, in tablet mode it feels crippled.
Battery lasts easily for a day in my usage scenarios.
I only hear the fan when I batch process images or play 0aD.
The finger print reader is a joke, it only works part time.
Why Lenovo started shipping Micro SD slots instead of SD slots is something I really don't get.
So I still need an adapter to read the SD cards ;-(
Windows 10 still sucks more than the other operating systems, but it is getting usable.
WSL is useful, especially when you install a registry entry that allows one to run Linux shell scripts
from the Windows side.
In the end, I am quite happy with the X1 Yoga, images look beautifully, it is light enough,
battery lasts and I can type on it without getting annoyed.
cheers
afx

On our short dog walk we come around a corner with chestnuts:
The rainbow was produced this way:
The images where taken during a longish dry spell, where the farmers in the area started with irrigation.
Even without the rainbow, I found the water from the sprinkler interesting:
Actually, the first two images are nice, but more documentary, I like the last one much better, probably the tone of the light and the way the corn plants are lit.
cheers
afx

On fathers day we visited a nearby horse stable, where a foal had been born at midnight.
There is a proud mom:
My wife went after the detals:
Interesting pattern, I've been told that this will fade soon:
Already galloping:
cheers
afx

On May 10th, we went to listen to Peter Schneider and 'Sir' Oliver Malley,
two excellent guitarists playing blues together.
I have heard Peter many times as the band leader of the "The Stimulators",
so my expectations where high, but I was not disappointed.
Oliver is definitely a stage person:
Together they are a terrific team:
Even the barkeeper is impressive:
And they do mix excellent cocktails there, they even have really good espresso.
A few more images can be seen here: here.
Now I am waiting for their first CD.
All images with 50/1.8 or a Sigma 24/1.8.
cheers
afx

Bavarian traditions ;-)
It is not easy these days when overlong transports have to be registered with the police.
But then each village has a volunteer fire brigade that helps.
The idea is to steal the pole and then give it back when the ransom is agreed on (beer and food).
The pole is guarded and the guards tend to run a bar/food service in the guard hut. Occasionally also concerts or other specials.
Various tactics for the stealing include locking the guards in their hut (they tried it here, but we had a portable hut that could be disassembled from the inside, quite a surprise ;-)
Or a rush, where a large group keeps the guardians busy inside the hut and another group takes the tree.
Or just waiting for the morning hours where the pole might be unguarded.
The group that steals the pole then helps raising it...
cheers
afx

Usually the tree that will become the maypole is brought into the village at the beginning of March.
Then it the preparations start (and of course the period in which the tree could be stolen by another village).
cheers
afx

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